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Karen’s LRMC Trip Blog
Day
#1
Friday, March 12, 2010
Today was a great day. The weather
started with just a little bit of snow and a bite to the air,
but it was a good day. You know it will be a good day at
Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC) if you find a parking
spot within the first 10 minutes.
The Wounded Warrior Ministry Center has not changed since last
year. Of course new volunteers, new chaplains, and staff, but
the process is the same.
We only had about 10 patients come in today and most were
repeat patients looking for another bag since they were going
home and they had to condense their "stuff" from many bags to
one larger bag. As many of you may know, airlines charge for
all those different bags you carry and military flights are no
different in the sense that they limit the total bags the
patients can take with them; which is not a bad thing if you
saw how much some of them want to take home from Germany.
:-o Many supporters of the wounded troops send smaller
duffels and they just can't hold the gear and personal
clothing the guys and girls come in with. Remember, many of
our patients come in with full gear on their backs, so when
they fly home they need a bag for that gear and clothing they
have purchased or received from the WWMC. LHCP sends bags no
smaller than 28' or 30' duffels and what is called a parachute
bag, which is great for gear.
The other hot item of the day was gloves for the chaplain’s
trip
on Saturday.
I was going to be going with them, but things have changed and
I will be staying put and getting caught up on computer work
this weekend. We have PLENTY of the gloves, so no problem
there.
The WWMC has scheduled their spring cleaning for
March 24th. I
do not believe I will be helping with that, as they have some
other projects that need doing. I guess we will find out next
week.
I thought it might be interesting this year to follow a
patient through LRMC. So...that is what we are going to do;
it will give you an up close and personal insight into the
operations of LRMC.
The patient has a leg injury, the only thing we can see is
swelling around the ankle. The patient has to be taken to
radiology for x-rays, then back to the doctor. They said the
patient would be "fast tracked." I am not sure what that
means, but will ask. I was surprised that the patient did not
have to wait for the doctor to order the x-rays. Any time I
have had x-rays in the states, the doctor has had to order
them, but here at LRMC the tech orders them based on the
symptoms. I imagine that cuts down on a lot of wait time for
patients here. The doctor comes back to the patient, and sure
enough, the ankle is broken. All this decided in less than an
hour, OK, I am impressed. As the doctor does the physical
exam, the patient says there is pain around the knee, so back
to radiology for more x-rays. This is a new department for
me, as I have never taken anyone there before. They are set
up nicely, depending on what type of test you need. After our
patient gets x-rays of the knee, we go back to the doctor. OH
NO, a second break, same bone broken at the top and the
bottom! That has got to suck, really how do you do that
without major anguish? Makes me shiver just thinking about
it. Anyway, the patient is put in a splint and arrangements
are made for the patient to see an orthopedic specialist on
Monday. I will try to keep everyone up to date on the
status.
I have not had a chance to really dig into the store rooms
yet, but I will have some “special” help in a week, so I am
going to leave that to our VP Jim Spliedt, who has decided to
pay his way over here to help out. He gets store room and
spring cleaning duties. They do have a volunteer now who does
nothing but store room twice a week, so it should not be as
backed up as it has been in the past.
I cannot wait to see what my duties will be next week. They
are down several people, so I hope to get a chance to slide
around and do a little of everything.
I would like to thank Bernie for her donation for this working
trip. Bernie has been a member of LHCP since August 2005.
She has been a great asset to our American troops and our
allies. The great thing about Bernie is, she is a true French
beauty and supports our troops with more gusto than some
Americans. Thank you Bernie!
Karen’s LRMC Trip Blog
Day
#2
Monday, March 15, 2010
It
is a grey, cloud-covered day. Not much got accomplished
today, but I did a lot of stuffing envelopes for mailing that
was past due since the secretary has been out ill. Glad I
could be of help there. Then spent some time at the shredder,
until I broke it. I was told it was old but I still feel
responsible.
I
talked to a patient today with a torn ACL and he will be here
for a couple weeks going through rehab. They were going to
send him home, but he wants to go back down range. So, he
will do his rehab here to build muscle strength and then have
surgery later. He has his ticket home, yet does not want it.
I
have finally started meeting some of the liaisons that are
here this trip. One that stands out so far really seems to go
out of his way for his patients. One of the other volunteers
asked him where he was from and he said, "where your mom
patted you on the head if you were good and kicked your a** if
you were not.” I laughed a little and said that sounded like
he grew up in the military and he said close, he grew up in
Georgia.
Our
patient went to ER Saturday night with loss of blood capillary
refill and increased pain. She was put in a new splint and
today went to orthopedics. She arrived around 2pm for her
appointment and at 2:30 still had not been seen. The tech
came out and told us that the doctor had to admit two patients
and so it was taking longer than expected. About 20 minutes
later, back to the exam room. Good and bad news. The ankle
is broken, but the knee is not. Into a walking boot and the
patient can start putting weight on the foot tomorrow. The
orthopedic clinic seems to work pretty well. They are busy,
but they still thought about coming out and checking with
patients that had been there a while and how to best serve
them with any changes they could make.
How
you can help from the states? We are in need of break-a-way
pants. These are the basketball type pants that have snaps on
the sides. We have some that have been homemade, but the guys
look at them and say "pass." They are walking around in
shorts and it is still quite chilly here. We can use M, L,
and XL. The snaps must go all the way to the waist.
My
hotel neighbor is a wonderful woman who is an OR nurse at LRMC.
She said that she ran an OR in the states in the plastic
surgery arena. She said before she retired she wanted to do
more with her life than work with rich women looking to
improve on what they had, so she decided to bring her talents
here. She did not think she would be accepted and was so
happy to find out she was. She loves her job and will be here
for 2 more years.
I
hope the weather is nicer for spring cleaning. It was chilly,
chilly, chilly today.
Today, I’d like to thank Dianne and Frank Lane for their
donation to my trip. Dianne has been a Yahoo Group member
since July 2007. She and her husband Frank have been constant
supporters of LHCP. Thank you Dianne and Frank!
Karen’s LRMC Trip Blog
Day
#3
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
We
had two planes come in today but it was kind of quite in the
WWMC. Tomorrow I guess they will all come in at the same
time.
Lori B. I thought about you and your question about how to
thank the troops. You asked:
“I have been thinking
for a while that I would like to say something to the military
personnel that I see in airports, etc., along the lines of
‘thank you for your service,’ with no further discussion
expected. But, I don't want to sound condescending. I have
no-one serving in the military in my family to ask if this
would be appropriate, appreciated, or considered rude. “
I
talked to a young man earlier tonight who is on his 3rd tour.
This is not the interesting fact, since I run into many
wounded that wish to return to finish the job they started.
What did surprise me was that out of the blue he said that he
used to get really embarrassed when people would come up and
thank him for his service. He never knew what to say. He
told me he was doing his job. He showed me a tattoo on his
arm which says 'NOBODY’S HERO.' He explained that it makes
him uncomfortable at times, because he came from a country
that treats him completely different and to walk into a place
where people clap or line up to shake his hand for doing his
job is unnerving at times. We talked about the fact that it
takes all of us to make it work, no matter the job at hand.
He needs vehicle mechanics to make sure that his vehicle gets
him where he needs to go. He needs cooks to feed him, he
needs chaplains to provide spiritual support and he needs
people back home to send things he and other servicemen cannot
get their hands on. He said it took three tours, but he
finally figured out how to reply and it is with, “thank you
for your support.”
We talked about AFN coming in tomorrow to do an interview with
me at the WWMC tomorrow and how I had tried to get out of it;
that I had sent the AFN names of military members who were
serving in the Middle East; patients and others I had met, who
I thought were the real story. He told me that he thought I
would be an interesting story. I told him there was no way to
make unpacking, packing, folding clothes for shelves into an
interesting story. He asked me why I did it, and then I
remembered what I had told Maria. It is like the master card
commercial that says something like: hot dog 2.99, team’s
jersey $30, tickets to the game $150, catching the home run
ball priceless. Well, this job volunteering at LRMC goes
something like this: Car rental - $800.00; Hotel room -
$100/day (so I can unpack the mail, stock shelves, clean store
rooms); Plane ticket - $1500; seeing the look of appreciation
of the wounded warriors face - Priceless. That is why I do
it; helping me become a better person is priceless.
So for all my LHCP supporters, I thank you for your support
and know that you are priceless to a wounded warrior and they
"thank you for your support."
I’d like to thank Larry Walley for helping make this
trip possible. He has been a member of the LHCP Yahoo Group
since March 2008. Thank you for all your support, Larry!
Karen’s LRMC Trip Blog
Days
#4 and 5
Thursday and Friday, March 17 and 18, 2010
This
is a difficult entry for me to write. Not because of the day
I have had or the wounded I have met, but because I have to
come clean with the Yahoo LHCP members. I just realized that
as I was going to tell you about the interview Armed Forces
Network (AFN) filmed with me today and next week when I post
the link to the AFN interview, you will all find out my secret
anyways. I am the patient going through Landstuhl Regional
Medical Center that I have been blogging about.
*deep breath*
Last Friday was a beautiful day, that was the truth. I was
going back and forth from the Wounded Warriors Ministry Closet
(WWMC) to the storage rooms gathering items and stocking
shelves. I was well rested and happy to be back. Then it
happened, my foot twisted and I
landed on the outside of my ankle. It was one of those "oh my gosh..breath...that really, really hurt...get your
balance...ok composure....oh crap look around and see if
anyone just saw you make that stupid move” moments. Nope, I
was in the clear, no one saw. I stood inside the storage room
for a couple of minutes, drew a couple deep breaths and got
what I needed and went back to the WWMC.
About 15 minutes later, the foot started swelling so I took a
long tube sock, some ice, and wrapped it around the ankle.
All is well!!! Later the ice had melted, so I went to ER and
asked for some instant cold packs that I could use as I
continued to help patients and stock shelves. The pain wasn’t
horrible. Then mother Silvia saw me. I was limping and
she asked me why. I told her and she wanted to see it, so off
came the tube sock, my shoe, and my sock. There is a very big
egg on the side of my ankle. She had a fit and told me to go
to the ER. I told her it did not hurt too bad and if it was
broken, I wouldn’t be able to walk on it. She kept bugging me
over the next 2 hours. So, at the end of the day I decided I
was going to go to ER to prove her wrong. I did not want to
listen to her all day
on Saturday
on the tour for the wounded troops.
You know the rest of the story from my past blogs. I went to
the ER and the tech ordered the x-rays. Doc comes in and
tells me the ankle and knee are broken. Can you imagine my
surprise when I went there to prove to mother Silvia that I
was ok? I was wrapped and splinted from mid thigh to toes. I
was in the hotel bed all day Saturday and Sunday except for a
trip to the ER
Saturday night
due to loss of capillary refill and pain. Monday I went to
orthopedics and found out my knee was actually alright, but
the ankle was broken. I was put into the walking brace and
life continues here at LRMC.
The reason I didn’t want LHCP members to know is because I
felt stupid for getting hurt, felt like I was letting you and
others down. I didn’t want someone taking care of me because
I believed I was tough enough to take care of myself, and then
followed the spectrum of feelings from anger, to guilt, to
embarrassment, shame, all of it. However, I realized that I
couldn’t keep it a secret because of the interview that AFN
would be doing.
While I was still stateside, I was contacted by AFN. They
were told I was coming in and asked me if I was willing to do
an interview while I was there. I told them that I was not
the story and gave them email addresses of those we support
and wounded that keep in touch with me. They told me that
they understood, but they still wanted to do the LHCP story.
If you have been with LHCP very long, you know we do not put
our logo on every item we distribute. We do not advertise on
TV, radio, magazines, newspapers, internet, etc. I truly
believe that the story does not lie with Jim, Rachel, Sharon,
Maria, myself, or any other LHCP volunteer, but lies with
those that sign on the dotted line to serve our country with
the US military.
I finally agreed, and the interview was scheduled for this
past Wednesday. I thought they would be there about 30 to 45
minutes. Well, this trip is full of surprises. AFN and I
were attached at the hip from 10:30 to 2:00. Now those that
know me are laughing, so get it out of your system, have your
laugh. I always have a camera in my hands so I never have to
be in front of the camera, so this was horrible for me. The
young man I told you about with the Nobody's Hero tattoo came
in while AFN was there and they talked to him. It gave me a
small break so that was nice. So here is the link to the
story
Michelle Michael
reports.
AFN Interview
I also met a young man with the same ankle break on the same
leg that I have. I am now up and walking on the cast with no
crutches and all is well. The ankle is still swollen and
starting to become the most beautiful shades of blue and
purple, but as we all know, it could be so much worse.
Last night, I was at the USO watching a movie when they had to
bring in a wheel chair for a young man who was dizzy and not
feeling well. He came in yesterday from Afghanistan due to
seizures. They needed a volunteer to go with him to the ER.
I said I would, but another military member said he would go.
Good enough, until I found out that the other military member
was at LRMC as a cardiac patient. I got up and started to
follow them to ER. I got to ER just as they arrived. I asked
the escort if he was a patient at LRMC; he said he was and I
introduced myself. I told him that I would stay with the
young man so he could go on back to the USO, that I did not
want both of them laid out somewhere. He laughed and said
that his doctor gave him a clean bill of health that
afternoon. Since both were patients, I stayed. We took the
kid into the exam room and when they got his vitals all looked
great. He was still complaining of being dizzy.
When
the doctor came in and had the kid sit up, I knew right away
what was wrong. His blood pressure went up, the doctor looked
at me and said hypertension and I said dehydrated. Doctor
ordered blood work and then two bags of IV fluid full bolus.
Since this was going to take about an hour, we left the
patient to rest and then came back one hour later at 8:30pm.
He felt better and we took him back to his room. I did not
post last night as it was a long day with this unexpected
event.
Today (Thursday) was a very busy day. I started work about
8:15am and left at 4:30pm to go over and help set up for the
Combat Stress event.
We had so many patients today, I can't even tell you how many,
but one stood out to me because when I turned around to see if
anyone needed help, he was just staring at the socks. I went
up and put my arm around his shoulders and asked if he was
ok. He just stood there a minute and looked at me. I asked
him if he was tired, confused, lost and didn’t know what he
needed. He said "yes.” I then started where I have started
so many times before. "Hun, are you a boxer or brief kind of
guy." He smiled and we packed his bag with socks, a full size
towel, XL house slippers, a winter jacket and some toiletry
items. I helped him do his inventory list and out the door he
went with the rest of his group. He was probably 10 years
older than me. I always hear from people that they want to
support our young men and woman who are wounded in OIF/OEF. I
cannot imagine how this war has affected this man at his age.
We received approximately 20 boxes in the mail today. Some
were LHCP boxes. We received more paperback books. I am
unsure how or what to do about this. Paperback books have
been on the do not send list for years, but people still send
them. I can't even imagine the amount of money spent on
sending paperback books here that we cannot use, nor have a
home for. Same thing goes for playing cards. Last month the
WWMC had approximately 8 large bins of playing cards. I found
a home for all of them, and now one month later, there are 4
more large bins of playing cards and no one wants them. If
you belong to a DAR, American Legion, VFW, Blue Star Mothers
Group, Church Group, or any other non-profit directly
supporting LRMC-WWMC, please pass the word to NOT ship playing
cards, stationary, blank cards, paperback books, or other
items on the do not ship list. Three quarters of the largest
storage room at the WWMC is not usable because these unneeded
items are taking up the room. If LRMC cannot use them and
LRMC or LHCP cannot find a home for the items, they must sit.
The workers and volunteers at LRMC do not have the time or
resources to try to redirect these items when they arrive, so
please just don’t send them.
Thank goodness there is a lot of work for me to do in the
sitting position with my leg propped up.
I
would like to thank Stephanie in Texas for her contribution to
this trip. Without the loyal support of people like
Stephanie, I wouldn’t be able to be here helping our wounded
troops and hopefully making their time here a little
brighter. Thank you, Stephanie!
LRMC Trip Blog
Jim
Spliedt, Vice President
Monday, March 22, 2010
Blog
#5
This
was my first day working at the Clothing Closet at the
Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. It was good to spend the
day assisting all of the soldiers and Marines that came in
looking for civilian clothing and hygiene items. All of them
were grateful for everyone who spent the time and effort to
send these items and for all the volunteers working at
Landstuhl. One nice thing about being here is that I do not
miss the snow that is at my house.
It
was interesting to see the items that the Clothing Closet has
way too many of, or just not enough. This morning I helped
sort hundreds of decks of playing cards. There were two large
bins full of playing cards, so many that I think I could hand
one out to everyone on base and still have some left over.
One item that is just gone is men’s medium sized underwear.
This bin was empty the whole day and we needed a dozen pair
before I went home at 4:30pm.
Size
does make a difference with items such as duffle bags. The
largest duffle bag LRMC has in stock is 25” and these were
popular, but all of the 30” black bags were gone even before I
got there. What a couple of soldiers told me was that they
needed a bag to carry the items not only from the clothing
closet, but also their personal armor and helmet. In this
case, a black 30” duffle bag, like the ones LHCP sends, would
work much better.
As a
board member of LHCP, I was proud to note there was very nice
pillow with a label from the Mounger Family of Texas and one
that said it was from a "Stitches of Love" member. Next to
the pillows, there was a lovely quilt made by the Antelope
Valley Quilt Association in California.
The
chaplain’s office is planning for their annual spring cleaning
this Wednesday, so this should be interesting. I am looking
forward tomorrow to assisting our soldiers and Marines, and
working with all the volunteers and military personal that
keep this small part of the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center
organized and running smooth.
LRMC
Trip Blog
Jim
Spliedt, Vice President
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Blog
#6
I
must admit that yesterday, after working all day on my feet at
the Wounded Warrior Clothing Closet, I was very tired. It was
early to bed last night after almost falling asleep at the
hotel restaurant.
When
I arrived this morning at the Clothing Closet, there were
patients already getting items. One thing I learned yesterday
was to be sure they tried on clothing items like the jackets,
because they tended to be on the small size and we would need
to go to the next larger size to ensure it fit properly. I
was assisting one soldier in finding items and found out that
he originally was in the Marines from 1978 through 1985.
After discussing where he was stationed, it turned out he
started boot camp in San Diego just as I finished and was
graduating.
This
morning we had a contractor from Fiji that was in a wheelchair
because of leg surgery. All he asked for was a small backpack
to help carry a few of his things. I got him the bag he
wanted and asked if he needed anything else. He just looked
around and asked how much he needed to pay for the bag. One
of the other volunteers told him everything was free. It took
a couple tries, but she finally convinced him that everything
was free. In the end, he got a couple pairs of ankle sock, a
new t-shirt, and a washcloth; still a little shocked he was
getting these items with no strings attached.
This
afternoon, I assisted in unpacking items that had been
received in the mail. There were probably a couple dozen
boxes that needed to be opened and the contents sorted and
stored. Of course, for the couple boxes of Girl Scout
cookies, it seemed everyone had an opinion on which were the
best. While we were opening the boxes, there were two issues
that came up. The first one was the number of boxes that
contained materials on our website’s “Do Not Send List” for
Landstuhl Region Medical Center (LRMC). Several packages had
books and puzzles, which they cannot use, and Karen had one
with movies on video tapes. To be honest, LRMC does not have
a single video machine on site to play these tapes. As with
many of our field units, storage space is at a premium, so
boxes of bulky items that cannot be used is a problem. The
second issue came up when I was unlucky enough to open a box
with a lot of toiletry items like shampoo, conditioner, and
hand lotion. I had emptied the box in a container we were
using to sort the hygiene items when I noticed everything on
the bottom of this box was covered in hand lotion. One of the
tops came off of a bottle and leaked on many of the other
items in the box. This was a reminder to me, if you are going
to ship liquids like lotion, be sure to use Ziploc bags which
will contain any accidental spillage. Taping down the tops
before going into a Ziploc bag is a good idea, too.
Tomorrow is the big Spring Cleaning day at the Wounded Warrior
Clothing Closet and I found my name on the signup sheet to
help. I guess I will need to wear some clothes I don’t mind
getting dirty.
LRMC
Trip Blog
Jim
Spliedt, Vice President
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Blog
#7
It
is Spring Cleaning Day at the Wounded Warrior Ministry of both
the Clothing Closet and onsite storage areas. Several other
volunteers showed up and everyone worked hard all day,
ensuring that all the areas were cleaned and all the storage
racks straightened out. All of the clothing on the shelves
was checked, organized to ensure everything was in the right
space, and clothes neatly folded. The bins with the hygiene
items, such as toothpaste and soaps, were inspected for
outdated items and wiped clean. In the afternoon, all of the
clothing shelves and hygiene bins were restocked. As part of
this effort, I helped move the clothing storage racks and
scrubbed the floors underneath, including a few hard to clean
places. A chapter of the DAR generously sponsored to have the
volunteer’s lunch catered.
During all this, we did have patients coming in and being
assisted by the volunteers. One young Marine had a broken leg
and was in a wheelchair. He stood up out of his wheelchair to
look at some item of clothing, and a few seconds later Karen
was telling him to get off his leg and sit back down. When he
stood up a second time, Karen gave him another warning to sit
down. Both the Marine and I came to the conclusion that it
was like having your “mom” watching you.
LRMC
Trip Blog
Jim
Spliedt, Vice President
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Blog
#8
Today was a little slower than yesterday’s big Spring Cleaning
day at the Clothing Closet. We had several servicemen and
women come through to pick up a few items they needed and
didn’t get their first visit. Also today, I was walking down
the main corridor and saw some of the service people who had
been to the Wounded Warrior Ministry Clothing Closet this week
and we knew each other by sight. One soldier in particular
was shy the other day and said very little, but this time when
I met him we stopped to talk.
On
the lighter side, Karen asked me to collect several items
while she escorted and stayed with one of the patients through
his medical exam and procedure in the morning. One item on
the list was various sizes of sports bras, and I can honestly
say my expertise in this area is limited. It was humorous to
the staff to watch me as I went through newly arrived boxes
looking for ladies undergarments while referring to my list of
women’s regular and sports bra sizes.
For
lunch, we traveled to the Pfalzer Stuben Hotel, which is where
I am staying during my visit to Landstuhl. The owners of the
hotel, Gaby and Gerhard Mueller, received a special
Certificate of Appreciation and challenge coin at lunch by the LRMC Chaplain’s office for the kindness and support they have
shown Karen over the last few weeks. I can honestly say that
both Gaby and Gerhard have been superb hosts during my stay in
Germany. After this presentation, both Karen and I received
Certificates of Appreciation from the Chaplain’s office for
our volunteer work supporting the Wounded Warrior Ministry,
too.
This
afternoon I had two patients, one with a cast on his right
foot, and one with a cast on her left foot. Both of them were
looking for one shoe. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the
same shoe size, as he was over 6’ tall and she was around
5’2”. There are two special bins at the Clothing Closet, one
with single right shoes and the other single left shoes.
These bins are the result of the amputees coming to the
Clothing Closet needing only one shoe and they are a reminder
to every one of the sacrifices being made by some members of
our military. We finally found a shoe to fit my 6’ tall
friend, but the other one was proving to be a bit more
challenging. She had very petite feet and said she needed a
very small shoe. Just after she said that, I found a tiny
baby shoe in the bottom of the bin. No one knows why it was
in there to start with. I brought it out and asked if she
would like to try it on, but our little group just started
laughing and she declined.
I am
a little saddened to know tomorrow is my last day working at
the Clothing Closet.
LRMC
Trip Blog
Jim
Spliedt, Vice President
Friday, March 26, 2010
Blog
#9
It
was my last day working at the Wounded Warrior Ministry’s
Clothing Closet. I was met by one of the chaplains first
thing in the morning, who let us know that a flight of wounded
had come in during the night so we could be prepared. An
older couple and four hard working missionaries from The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also arrived as
volunteers this morning, as part of their normal Friday
activities. The four missionaries spent a few hours opening,
sorting, and storing numerous boxes of clothing in one of the
store rooms. It was very impressive to see how much they
accomplished in such a short time period.
All
of the unspecified cards and letters received for the wounded
must be individually opened, screened for content, and checked
just in case someone included items like phone or iTunes
cards. This is a daunting task since the Landstuhl Regional
Medical Center receives thousands of pieces of mail annually
and the volunteers are generally tasked with this job. I was
told when these young missionaries would find a phone or
iTunes card, they would start singing the “golden ticket” song
from the Willie Wonka movie. I guess they work for one box of
Samoas Girl Scout cookies - a very good deal for the Clothing
Closet.
We
had wounded service men and women come to the Clothing Closet
throughout the day. As with the other days, they would come
in just wanting a few items, but with a little encouragement,
leave with a duffle bag full of much needed clothing and
hygiene items. Many of them were in amazement at the
generosity of their fellow Americans in providing them with
these items. Later in the day, we had four Marines from the
previous night’s flight come in to get clothing, because all
of them had nothing but hospital gowns to wear. Karen
assisted one Marine in a wheelchair with a pair of breakaway
pants while I searched for a pair of size 14 men’s shoes. All
of the Marines left the Clothing Closet with clothing they
could comfortably walk around in.
Near
the end of the day I restocked a few bins and made sure there
were plenty of duffle bags and jackets ready for the weekend.
My time volunteering at the Wounded Warriors Ministries
Clothing Closet has come to an end and I cannot believe how
fast the time went.
LRMC
Trip Blog
Jim
Spliedt, Vice President
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Blog
#10
I was privileged to have
been asked to go on the Chaplain’s Office Saturday excursion
with the wounded from the LRMC for a tour of Mainz, Germany.
When we arrived in Mainz, we made our way to Cathedral Square,
where about half the group went to the Gutenberg Museum and
the other half to the Cathedral for tours. We had a chance to
spend about 40 minutes in the museum before going to our
assembly point for lunch. I walked with one of the Chaplains
in the back, making sure everyone was accounted for. At
lunch, I sat and talked with service members from Texas,
California, Wisconsin, and Washington. What was funny was the
look on their faces when I brought up a few personal details
on two of them, until they recognized me as the “guy” from the
Clothing Closet.
After lunch, I walked with a small group around downtown
Mainz. There was a little rain during the afternoon and I was
glad I bought an extra umbrella and raincoat to hand out. One
of the favorite shops the group went in was the “Everything is
1 Euro,” or the European equivalent of the “Everything is a
Dollar” store in the United States. Everyone walked up and
down the aisles, joking and seeing what 1 Euro would buy. One
of the nice ladies with us wanted to visit a shoe store, so
the gentlemen politely waited near the store door and we
talked about our families and what souvenirs we were going to
buy for our children. We eventually stopped at a small café
and ordered mega-calorie desserts and hot chocolates. Another
small group joined us, and as I was sitting there with my
slice of cake, I enjoyed watching our service men and women
just making small talk with these big smiles on their faces.
They all told me how much they appreciated getting away from
the hospital even for a little while to just be tourists. To
get the chance to sit outside a café, even with the cool rainy
weather, and watch the world go by was very special to them
and I was grateful to have had the chance to share the
experience.
This
is my last blog, since tomorrow I start packing for my flight
back home to Idaho. I didn’t know what to expect before I
came to work at Landstuhl, but it has turned out to be a
unique week-long personal journey for me. I met more
outstanding individuals, both as patients and support staff,
then I can count; and made a few new friends. And to all our
Wounded Warriors - Semper Fidelis.
LRMC
Trip Blog
Karen Grimord, President
Monday, March 29, 2010
It
has been a while since I have made an entry from this trip.
Jim has kept you up to date on his trip and I have been busy
with working at LRMC also.
 We
have had many volunteers spring cleaning and sorting through
items not needed here at LRMC. Last week, I sat with a
patient before he went in for a procedure. He was supposed to
be out before 10:30, but it went much longer than expected, so
I had to leave before he came out. I felt horrible to find
out later he went for lunch and passed out as he was standing
in line for his Burger King Whopper.
Jim is right when he told his story about the young Marine who
wanted to stand on his injured half casted foot. I imagine
they do feel like they have their "mom" here. There have been
many here that stand on a splinted foot or rest their
bodies/arm pits on their crutches and get a lesson on proper
care of their leg or use of crutches to prevent crutch palsy
or nerve damage. Mom is not here, so someone has to make sure
they wear their jackets when going outside for a smoke, tie
their shoes so they don't trip and hurt themselves again - or
worse, cause another injury; even if we know how tired they
become walking on one leg and using the crutches.
 I
helped one of our Polish coalition forces last week. His
translator was with him, but I feel it is better to talk
directly to the patient. So I have found over the years, it
is very easy to ask if a patient needs a razor by “shaving” my
own face, or “brushing my teeth” with hand motions and the
coalition forces always seem to know what I mean. I am sure
it must be quite the sight to outsiders to see a woman act
like she is putting deodorant on or clean her ears with
Q-tips, but the patient is number one and unless they ask the
translator, the patient is who we should look in the face with
a smile and treat with respect.
We had 4 battle-injured Marines come in at one time. I helped
put their duffel bags together. As I asked them if they
needed shirts or sweat pants, one told me he did not need a
shirt, so we moved on. Before they left, I learned that he
only had the shirt on his back, which was stained with sweat
and blood. After giving him a smile and a pat on the back, I
gave him the “what for” on the donated items that were sent
for troops. I told him he needed to take what he needed and
that meant that he was not to walk around in dirty clothing.
So we then began adding to his bag. One of the Marines needed
break-a-way pants due to a drainage tube. I was happy to find
a pair that LHCP had sent. I explained and showed him the
easiest way to put them on. It should not surprise me, but he
wanted them on then and there. So we got that task
accomplished with him first unfastening the right side,
sitting and putting his good leg in the still fastened side.
Then he stood, and I brought the back around as he held the
front and we again fastened the right side around the tubing.
He was so very happy to have pants on instead of shorts.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, we have a Combat Stress
Class for those wishing to attend. So after I get done at the
WWMC, I go and help set up for this. We have Popeye Chicken
one night, pizza another night, and Subway sandwiches the last
night. This class gives those patients and escorts time to
talk about any concerns they may have with their deployment.
Next week, I will take some more time and go over Combat
Stress in this blog.
Thanks to Callie Waddell for helping to sponsor this trip.
She has been an LHCP member for two years, and is one of our
biggest Stitches of Love contributors. Thank you for all your
support, Callie!
LRMC Trip Blog
Karen Grimord, President
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Blog #12
Today was oh so very slow in the WWMC and that is oh so very
good in terms of wounded arriving, but oh so bad for making
the day extremely long.
I did have some patients come in just to talk or give me
feedback from their doctor's appointments. Yesterday, we
had two patients arrive at once. I was working on a project
as another volunteer explained the WWMC to the patients. She
asked them what they needed. The one patient knew he needed
sweats and a jacket, but the other said he did not know. She
told him they had toiletries, snacks, and clothing and he
could look around. He said he just didn’t know what he
needed. I turned around and left my task, as I have heard
that plea before. I went to his side and slowed things down a
little bit for him by going over each item, one at a time.
Sometimes we are in such a hurry to help, we forget to slow it
down just a little. Many patients with Post Traumatic Stress
or Traumatic Brain Injury cannot process more than one thing
at a time. They cannot take a list of 5 or 6 items and decide
if they need each of those items. It must be broken down for
them. They cannot process putting a bag together, talking
about their tour, their family, or even the weather outside at
the same time. Many put on a really good "puppet" show, as
one patient called it yesterday, but they are very lost.
Once
we got the bag together, he felt a little more comfortable and
told me that he had been in the dining facility and had a
little bit of a panic attack. This is completely normal and
is actually part of lessons they are given to get back into a
crowd and be able to work through it. We talked for about 20
minutes when his wife called. He shared with her what
happened, but she had her own crisis happening at home and it
was very unfortunate that she could not listen to what he was
going through, since he was in no position to deal with what
was happening at home; so he hung up on her. As he sat with
his head hung down, I asked if he
 wanted
a hug. He said no, which did not surprise me since he had
already had a panic attack, so I held out my hand, allowing
him to take it if he wanted to and we sat there holding hands
quietly for a few minutes.
We have combat stress classes on Tuesday, Wednesday, and
Thursday. It is a one-hour informal class with patients that
wish to attend. It is not mandatory and many only come
because on Tuesdays we have Popeye's Chicken, on Wednesday we
have pizza and Thursday we have Subway sandwiches. It is an
open forum to talk about some of the issues they might be
struggling with.
Guilt seems to be number one on the list. Guilt for leaving
their unit, for surviving an attack, for being away from their
family, for what they did - or maybe they feel they failed to
help a battle buddy. The second seems to be anxiety. This
can be anxiety for their own health, their career, their
family at home, or their unit "family" downrange. Then
follows hyper-vigilance; I call this always having the ears
on. Even sleeping, you can hear conversations and respond,
you become overly security conscious.
Other issues are obsessive-compulsive behaviors, isolationism,
difficulty sleeping, flashbacks, nightmares, intrusive mental
images and memories, anger at themselves or God for letting
this happen, or for not stopping it, depression, avoiding
emotional intimacy, reluctance to get close to people, short
term memory loss, confusion, lack of concentration, continual
fear for those left behind or for what is ahead in their
health care, denial of any health problems or personal
problems,
We then give them some good tools to use. Some work better
for one patient than they do for another. Each patient can
discuss what tools they think would work best for them. We
also talk about what tools are ineffective tools. I have been
known to use some of the ineffective tools and learned they
just cover up and extend the recovery from any combat stress.
The class usually starts very slow as no one is willing to
share, but by the end we usually have everyone participating.
It is the beginning of what might be a long trip back to a new
normal.
LRMC
Trip Blog
Karen Grimord, President
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Blog
#13
Tonight I met a young man who asked me if I knew Jim. I told
him I did, that he was the VP of LHCP. He told me that he was
deployed in Afghanistan and was staying in the same hotel that
Jim was while he was here in Germany. His wife had come up
from Italy to visit him while he was receiving care here at
LRMC. He told me that Jim had given him and his wife 100 Euro
and he did not know how to tell him, ‘no he did not want it,’
but he thought it was very nice of him to give it to his
family. So Jim gets an "Atta Boy" for his donation that made
a family’s trip to LRMC from Italy a little bit easier.
It
is still very cold, windy, rainy, and just plan ugly weather
here. We have been busy with new patients, combat stress
classes, and then the weekend patient trip to Trier again. I
don't know how many trips I have made to Trier, but I am sure
my feet have hit most of the cobblestones taking patients from
one place to another.
I
thought I would let someone else speak for me this blog.
Holly is a patient who came in last week. I met her Tuesday
at a Combat Stress class. She was to head out right away, but
due to a change in her medical condition, she got held here
for a few more days before going back to the states.
I
was sent to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center because of
seizures and lower back issues. I was in an IDF blast last
October while serving a tour in Iraq, and while I had no
external injuries, I had internal injuries that I tried to
hide for fear of being taken away from my team. I held on for
over 5 months, and was 11 months into my tour before being
sent here to Germany. I was scared and ashamed, I felt as
though I had let my team down because I could not “tough it
out.” When I got here, they tested me for Multiple Sclerosis
and Lupus. I screened negative for both, but I have a tear in
a disc in my lower spine that will need surgery, and I will
need physical therapy, quite possibly for the rest of my
life. I may also have developed a seizure disorder, but I am
waiting on test results to confirm the diagnosis. While I was
here, I had a great support system, to include the cadre that
worked the CQ desk to the volunteers that work here;
specifically, Karen Grimord. She volunteers at the Chaplain’s
Closet, and they offer everything from undergarments to
jackets to toiletries that wounded warriors might need. When
I got here, I had no shampoo, soap, jacket, or civilian
clothes; just basically what I had on my back was what I
carried with me.
We receive vouchers for military and civilian clothing so you
have what we need. What I have found to be helpful in my
recovery here is the support that I received from the
Chaplains who work the Combat Stress classes, and Karen. They
offer hope when you feel hopeless, and with the emotional
support and the things they supply, they make you feel like it
will get better. Anything that you may need, they do
everything within their power to get for you.
I
also was able to take a trip with the Chaplain’s group to
Trier, Germany. It was a great trip, and I got to see one of
the first Roman Catholic Cathedrals, named Dom St Peter, it
was built by Constantine. It was unbelievable, and taking a
trip out in civilian clothes made me feel like a human again.
I am so thankful for the support that I have received here,
it’s hard to get wounded in battle, but these people have made
a difference in my life forever.
I
thank each of the LHCP members and donors for making it
possible to support our wounded troops such as Holly.
Thank you Bernie, Diane and Frank Lane, Larry Walley,
Stephanie, Callie Waddell, and Maria Waddell for supporting my
trip this year. You also helped purchase Holly lunch the
other day as we sat and talked about her medical condition,
the son she left at home, and what she has to look forward to.
LRMC
Trip Blog
Karen Grimord, President
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Blog
#14
One
more day of work and then I fly. It has been a long and
difficult trip from the beginning. I so wish to stay and
continue my support of the wounded troops here at LRMC, but we
must continue our support stateside so those that arrive here
will be comfortable and warm.
The update on Holly stands as she has a tear in a lower disk
and will require surgery. She has been diagnosed with Lyme
disease. There is no cure and she will be on medication to
control the side effects. She will be traveling to GA for her
back surgery.
I have seen our blankets, quilts, and pillows come off the bus
in the morning covering patients that arrive from the Middle
East. It is a wonderful feeling to know that, as such a small
group, we are having such a wonderful impact in support of our
wounded warriors.
I have several new requests and I will post them as soon as I
get back to the states.
Please bear with me, as I will be starting my own physical
therapy for my broken ankle. I still have some bruising and
swelling and they are hoping that once I get into physical
therapy, the swelling will release some of the pressure I am
having on the nerves.
Thank you to all those that supported this trip, monetarily,
and with your thoughts and prayers!
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